You might not think of Detroit as a city for tech, but web developer Aisha Blake is helping change that perspective. She works as a web developer for Detroit Labs, fosters the next generation of tech speakers through Detroit Speakers in Tech, and her story of what drew her to the city is one that you’ve gotta hear.

Aisha and I talked about how a goalball tournament was the catalyst for her journey to Detroit, how couchsurfing opened up her up to an entirely new community, and she shared the the one piece of advice which has helped her accomplish so much in life in such a short amount of time. According to Aisha, we all need to feel comfortable with trying new things, and I think you’ll come away from this conversation feeling inspired to do just that!

Kevin White calls himself a “UX strategist”, but that title barely scratches the surface of what he does. Aside from his work as a senior experience designer, he’s also a talented illustrator, a design educator, and a devoted family man. But according to Kevin, his origin story as a design professional is an example of what not to do. (Naturally, I had to know more about this.)

We started off talking about the ubiquity of UX in today’s modern design industry, and from there Kevin goes into the early days of his career, and we take a slight detour to discuss social media, sound design, branding, and even the historical archives of the Internet! We touched on a lot of topics in our conversation, but I think what stands out the most is that there is no one true path to becoming a designer. Learn more about Kevin in this week’s interview!

This week’s interview is with none other than the venerable Craig Wilkins. Craig is one of the country’s leading scholars on African-Americans in architecture, and he’s an academic, activist, and author. He can now add one more “A” to his long list of titles — award winner!

I spoke with Craig fresh off his National Design Awards win, and we talked about a number of things — his love for Detroit, what made him get involved in architecture, where he sees design education in the future, why design organizations struggle with diversity, and more. It’s a far-reaching conversation that I think you’ll enjoy regardless of your design discipline. Enough from me though…press play and enjoy the interview!